SURVEYS
 

SURVEY OF AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE


"What makes a survey like this fascinating are all the cross-currents that reflect the complexity, orneriness and sheer self-contradiction of the American people."

—Peter Steinfels, The New York Times


Political culture is defined as the normative context within which politics takes place. This context includes the ideals, beliefs, values, symbols, stories, and public rituals that bind people together and direct them in common action. Political action then emanates from political culture, is a reflection of that culture's ideals, and reinforces its normative boundaries.

The Survey on American Political Culture attempts to provide information about America's political culture that seeks to bridge the empirical (number crunching) and theoretical (abstraction) and enables us to address political and cultural changes taking place across America.

Volume 1

Volume One: Life Choices
(fielded in 1990)

The Life Choices survey was designed to draw out the subtle nuances of the broad middle in America - rather than the ideological red / blue divide - on controversial moral and legal issues dividing our nation. We uncovered the fundamental beliefs, convictions, and values that inform American opinions on quality of life by asking questions about illegal immigration, nuclear war, homelessness, suicide, child abuse, drug abuse, environmentalism, animal rights, gender roles, suffering, sexuality, and abortion.

Vol 4

Volume Two: The State of Disunion
(fielded in 1996)

What was the state of the union (or disunion) at the turn of the millenia? For volume two we interviewed more than 2,000 Americans to produce a summary of popular political perception, opinion, and expectation.

Vol 4

Volume Three: Politics of Character
(fielded in 2000)

In this third volume we take up questions surrounding character and its political significance. We consider how issues of morality and character play in the public's mind, particularly as they pertain to political life. We also attempt to map the moral dispositions and commitments of typical Americans, examine their views of political leadership, and get a sense of their attitudes toward the current state of political life.
Vol 4

Volume Four: Difference and Democracy
(fielded in 2003)

Traditionally, America has prided itself in bringing unity out of diversity. In recent years, however, our country has seemed more marked by fragmentation and irreconcilable differences than e pluribus unum. In this survey volume, we seek to examine, in a complex way, the issues and sensibilities that divide Americans. Although we find divergence over particulars of public policy, we find broad support for American political and economic institutions and national symbols.

triangle All volumes are available through the Institute for $5 each. Order online or call 434-243-8935.
triangle Volume Four will be available starting Fall 2006.